Must-see attractions in La Latina & Lavapiés

Crowning Madrid’s oldest neighborhood of La Latina is an architectural and visual masterpiece that is the Basílica de San Francisco el Grande (Basilica of…

A Sunday morning at El Rastro flea market, Europe's largest, is a Madrid institution. You could easily spend the entire morning inching your way down the…

This contemporary-arts centre is a stunning multipurpose space south of the centre. Occupying the converted buildings of the old Arganzuela livestock…

Around the back of the Iglesia de San Andrés, the delightful Plaza de la Paja slopes down into the tangle of lanes that once made up Madrid's Muslim…

This engaging museum occupies the spot where San Isidro Labrador, patron saint of Madrid, ended his days around 1172. A particular highlight is the large…

Towering above the northern end of bustling Calle de Toledo, and visible through the arches from Plaza Mayor, this imposing church long served as the city…

The area stretching northwest from Iglesia de San Andrés to the viaduct was the heart of the morería (Moorish Quarter). Strain the imagination a little…

The Capilla del Obispo is a hugely important site on the historical map of Madrid. It was here that San Isidro Labrador, patron saint of Madrid, was first…

High above Calle de Segovia, Madrid's viaduct, which connects La Morería with the cathedral and royal palace, was built in the 19th century and replaced…

This fine old church is one of the few remaining windows on post-Muslim Madrid, most notably its clearly Mudéjar (a Moorish architectural style) brick…

The triangular Plaza de Lavapiés is one of the few open spaces in Lavapiés and is a magnet for all that’s good (a thriving cultural life) and bad (drugs…

West across Calle de Bailén from La Morería are the terrazas (open-air cafes) of Jardines de Las Vistillas, which offer one of the best vantage points in…

This proud church is more imposing than beautiful. Stern, dark columns with gold-leaf capitals against the rear wall lead your eyes up into the dome – all…

Next door to the Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Buen Consejo, the Instituto de San Isidro once went by the name of Colegio Imperial and, from the 16th…

This cultural centre is utterly unpredictable, if only because of the quantity and scope of its activities – everything from exhibitions to cinema…

One building that catches the community spirit of the lively Lavapiés is La Corrala, an example of an intriguing traditional (if much tidied up) tenement…

Down the bottom (at the northern side) of the Plaza de la Paja is the walled 18th-century Jardín del Príncipe Anglona. It's a peaceful garden.